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NEARLY THREE DECADES after the Green Revolution changed the country's ignominious ship-to-mouth existence, agriculture has again taken the centre-stage. This time, not to tackle frightful food shortages, but for a host of reasons no less important — to manage foodgrain surpluses, ensure sustained rural income growth, contain the food subsidy burden and make farming cost-efficient so as to be able to withstand competition from imports. In a candid admission to this paper recently, the Finance Minister Mr Yashwant Sinha described agriculture as a major unfinished task in the reforms programme.

Overthe ten years of economic liberalisation, agriculture — the largest private sector economic activity accounting for between a third and a fourth of GDP — has witnessed little dynamism. Despite the fact that nearly 70 per cent of the population derives its livelihood from agriculture and allied activities, the sector has received but little attention from the policy-makers both at the Centre and in the States. Agriculture continues to be dogged by all the problems experts have been talking about for years — lack of irrigation, absence of land reforms, poor input management, traditional farming practices and inadequate marketing infrastructure. Though somewhat belated, the realisation that accelerated agricultural growth has the potential to drive the country's GDP growth is heartening.

TheCentre has a plethora of schemes aimed at increasing production and productivity of a host of farm produce including foodgrain, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane and so on. But their implementation has left much to be desired. Budgetary allocation for some the schemes has actually been slashed over the last two years, raising serious doubts about the intentions of the policy-makers. The National Agriculture Policy announced a-year-and-a- half ago is yet to be made operational. Meanwhile, season after season, the Centre merrily raises the minimum support price for crops, does little to influence much-needed acreage shifts, accumulates unconscionable quantities of foodgrain (wheat and rice) in its granaries and creates a crushing food-subsidy burden.

Thebenign neglect that characterises the policy-makers' attitude to agriculture must change. Under the Constitution, agriculture is a State subject. It is a pity that most State governments pay scant regard to promotion of the sector. By "supporting" farmers with free or subsidised inputs and artificially high procurement prices, they have only encouraged inefficient production; and curbs on the movement of produce have robbed farmers of profitable marketing options. To become globally competitive, farmers need better infrastructure in terms of irrigation, roads, telecommunications and market yards. Yet the finances of many States are too fragile to let them take up serious developmental work. In the matter of agriculture and related activities, the Centre can do little without the active participation of the States, while there is little evidence of a consensual approach to implementing a forward-looking, truly national policy for agriculture that would narrow down regional and crop imbalances to accelerate the growth in every region and ensure food and nutritional security for all. It must be conceded that it is no easy call for the policy-makers. They have a tough job on hand — of strengthening Indian agriculture to make it globally competitive.

Buttough times call for tough decisions. For a start, the Centre must display political courage and will to change the things it can. A freeze on the minimum support price for wheat and rice as also a ceiling on procurement to the extent of PDS requirement is the least the government can do immediately; but its track record does not inspire much confidence that it would.

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